


All the boys, all the girls, all the madness that occurs

by shaardom



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam comes to term with his own sexuality, Casual, Fluff, M/M, Ronan stands for the bisexuality of his boyfriend, Silly, aka he makes it a conscious thing, happy late pride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 09:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12429891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shaardom/pseuds/shaardom
Summary: Ronan unexpectedly visits Adam on the day his college celebrates pride. Shenanigans ensue.---Adam only had the time to notice the rainbow painted on Ronan's cheek before disappearing under a giant pink and blue flag, which the said person had thrown over him."What is this ?" he asked while emerging from underneath the colorful fabric."The bi flag." Ronan paused. "Happy pride, fucker."





	All the boys, all the girls, all the madness that occurs

**Author's Note:**

> The title is lyrics from the song Charlie Brown by Coldplay, it felt fitting and I'm in a phase where I use lyrics for titles of my fanfics.
> 
> I'm ace tbh. But I also stand against bi erasure ! Be proud and enjoy !

Adam only had the time to notice the rainbow painted on Ronan's cheek before disappearing under a giant pink and blue flag, which the said person had thrown over him.

"What is this ?" he asked while emerging from underneath the colorful fabric.

"The bi flag." Ronan paused. "Happy pride, fucker."

Adam was not over his lover unexpectedly barging in yet. He also had trouble processing everything else— pride, his sexuality blatantly thrown at his face. The flag felt like it offered a protection against this load of surprises. He walked to Ronan and hugged him with a single arm, holding the flag so it wouldn't slip with the other hand.

"How did you know my college was celebrating ?"

"You mentioned it."

He genuinely did not remember doing that. Ronan kissed the tip of his nose in a surprisingly light manner. Adam nuzzled his chest. 

"Thanks for coming."

"Why are you so surprised ?" Ronan scoffed.

It sound as if he was scolding Adam. The mere idea that he'd have missed it was unnerving. Adam exhaled against his skin before looking up.

"I seriously didn't plan on participating."

"One of the proudest people I know almost missed _pride._ Jesus, Parrish."

Adam let out a brief laugh.

"Shut up."

The rainbow was painted on both of Ronan's cheeks. Adam stepped back to admire him, then looked at his own feet to the blue oozing on the floor. He barely named his sexuality. Reducing it to his current relationship was enough for the world. Long story short, Adam didn't think of himself as gay, but society denied him the label of bi.

He didn't even know there was a flag for that.

"Put your shoes on," Ronan was saying. "We're going out."

Adam closed his textbook, trapping notes between the pages and put it back on the shelf before looking after his shoes. Ronan pulled a chair to sit while he was searching for a change of clothes.

"You came alone ?"

"Yeah, Matthew stayed at DC and the others said it wouldn't make much sense to be there."

"You guys know a lot more about this than I do," Adam noticed.

"Never too late," Ronan said.

Colors suited him. Adam engraved them in his mind them one after the other, all making the black of Ronan's outfit even darker.

Adam retreated in the bathroom to quickly brush his hair. He even pinched his cheeks to forcefully bring healthy colors on his face. Ronan probably didn't care. He'd be proud to have him by his side anyway. He winced at his reflection while wearing his worn out, branded shirt. Most of his jeans looked the same and he didn't bother. He walked back in the room and started lacing his shoes.

"How do I look ?" he asked Ronan.

"Good."

It was an understatement, though any other answer would have been an essay. At this point, Adam was very self-conscious. He knew that his hastily styled hair would fail the test of time, that his eyebags are more or less worrisome depending on the lightning, that his skin is dry. Ronan also knew, but he loved Adam just the same.  
\---

"You're bi ?"

Adam nodded, before pointing out that he was also dating. He had that ghost of a conversation twice or thrice already — most of them happening when Ronan was away — and was growing tired of being questioned. At first, he truthfully answered, then he realized that he did not owe them such thorough explanations. Which led him to either ignore questions he didn't want to answer, or actually answer with equally intrusive question.

"So, what's his name ?"

"Ronan."

He knew the girl— sort of, they did a small project together. The took a black felt tip pen from her pocket and wrote _gay for Ronan_ on Adam's left cheek then vanished. Adam didn't see the problem until remembering the colors he's wearing. He's attracted to Ronan right now — and _please God made it last forever_ — but he had been attracted to Blue too, and it happened that he was still attracted to people of both genders. He puffed out his cheeks. 

"Why do people feel entitled to comment," Adam muttered, scrunching up his nose.

Ronan hugged him from behind.

"What's that ?"

He angrily clicked his tongue at the inaccurate graffiti. Adam was glad that she didn't stick around. He didn't have the money to bail Ronan out after he had badly injured her.

"It's fine, I'll wash it. The ink probably didn't dry yet."

"No."

Ronan didn't develop his idea. Adam would have anyway but Ronan dragged him in a quest for a similar pen. Adam end up willingly following him across the crowded street. He wouldn't stop wearing the flag or holding Ronan's hand for all the world can offer, though. Adam was too proud of them to do that. It was like telling the world to look. _See how far we've come._

That said, the world is only allowed to _look_ , not to be rude.

Once they have found the said pen, Ronan crossed out the _gay_ on Adam's cheek and wrote bisexual in all letters above it. He added an intricate symbol under the sentence, then handed the pen to Adam.

"Really ?"

Ronan raised a brow. Adam bit back his laughter then agreed to write on his cheek as well. He simply wrote _gay for Adam_ then dropped his hand.

"I don't know the symbol for that."

"Lambda is fine."

"Is there one like what you drew ?"

Ronan took the pen and drew it on a plastic plate. Adam studied the design to replicate it on Ronan's cheek. He wasn't satisfied by the result, but Ronan was certain that it was fine. Adam pulled him in the bathroom because he wanted to check on his own cheek and he also didn't want to leave him behind. For some reason, he was beaming at the struck word. He didn't know there was a symbol for bisexuality. That and the flag— today is for discoveries.

Ronan briefly checked on his own cheek. The matching sentences satisfied him.

"We can go somewhere else," he offered.

They end up staying a bit longer and retreated in a booth, in a random bar.

"So, Matthew ?"

"He bought a white shirt to ruin it with colors."

"Nice." Adam laughed. "What have you been up to ?"

"Teaching Opal the difference between a cow and a goat. Rebuilding Cabeswater— it starts being more physical now."

"That doesn't seem to make you happy," Adam pointed out.

They haven't touched their drinks yet. Ronan sighed wistfully.

"It does. But I feel like your deal will keep being a thing, then."

"So ?" Adam knew it was far from a casual matter yet he kept pretending. "I don't mind being a magician again."

"You have never stopped being a magician, Parrish."

None of us can achieve what you can, Ronan thought.

"Arguable, but let's save the arguing part for later."

"I want you whole, Adam."

Adam felt butterflies in his stomach. Their wings fluttered against each other and he was glad he didn't drink.

"You are Cabeswater, even more now that you consciously work on it. You always had me whole."

He leaned against Ronan, which was made harder by the silky, slippery fabric of the flags. He eventually managed to rest his head on Ronan's shoulder.

"Nice way of putting it," Ronan said before pressing a kiss on his hair.

"Indeed. You dreamt me, remember ? Eyes, hands— _yours, all yours,_ even though they're not the most original toys of your collection."

Ronan emitted an offended sound.

"God, _Parrish,_ that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard."

"I'm sorry," Adam surrendered. "What are your standards in terms of dumb shit ?"

"Declan praying."  
\---

Adam splayed the flag on his bed before laying on it. Ronan took a second to appreciate the sight before crawling above him.

"Thanks for everything."

Ronan arranged his own flag to cover them then rested his head on Adam's chest without answering. He won't spend the night here but none of them wanted to think of that yet.

"Sleep, Adam."

There was the dreadful promise that he'd be gone as soon as that happens, so Adam forced himself to stay awake a bit more.

"Did you paint your cheeks yourself ?"

"I let Blue do it. Though Noah also wanted to."

Adam made an endeared sound. For some reason, Ronan kept talking after that and Adam picked on the treachery too late. Ronan's soothing voice is a powerful sleeping spell.

When Adam woke up, he was tucked in his bed and the bi flag was still gloriously splayed on the blanket. He remembered that Ronan told him something before kissing him goodbye. It had been a few meaningful words to end his visit on a light-hearted touch. It probably meant a lot, although Adam didn't fully understand. Issues within the LGBT community are still a mystery to him.

_"I stand against bi erasure."_

____

__

_Adam laughed now, upon remembering it. He isn't sure what that is, but that definitely means that Ronan supports him. Despite being deaf on one ear, which makes him partially disabled, he's still valid._

He sat up, feeling incredibly light-headed after understanding the point Ronan was trying to make during the whole day. 

Partially _disabled_ yet _valid_. 

He laughed quietly. That deep truth sound funny because of the apparently antonymic relationship between disabled and valid. He felt like opening his window and yell. He grabbed his phone and texted Ronan instead.  
\--- 

_Hey Lynch_

_I wasn't sleepy but your voice made me..._

_asshole_

_Tell you what, thanks_

_I love you_

_much more than this stupid phone can let you know  
\---_

_You'll be late for first period, Parrish  
\---_

_What if I'm already in the classroom ?  
\---_

_Texting during a lesson ? That's hardcore.  
\---_

Adam rolled his eyes, feeling his cheeks warm up. 

_You're back in Henrietta ?  
\---_

_Not yet  
\---_

_I plan on leaving tonight, we can go together ?  
\---_

_Focus on your damned lesson._  
\--- 

_Don't tell me what to do.  
\--- _

__

_Focus on the lesson. Lunch together if you'd like ? Don't answer this text, I love you too.  
\---_

Ronan's phone rang hours later. Adam and him went to eat outside of the campus. Adam was wearing the bi flag as a scarf now, which surprised Ronan. He didn't expect Adam to keep holding on it. 

"I should have known that hearing you talk so much was suspicious." 

"Did I outsmart Adam Parrish ?" 

"Hey, stop that. You're not dumb." 

Ronan started doing ominous gestures as to signify the world's end. Adam picked a fry from his blatantly red tray and threw it at him. Ronan dodged then pretended to dust his shoulder with a smug grin. 

"Let's be real, if I haven't done that then you wouldn't have slept at all." 

"What's the matter ? I wanted to keep you around." 

"It'd have fucked the whole day of class. You don't understand shit when you're tired." 

"Wow." 

"Then you'd have to go over your notes again and that makes less time for me." Ronan grinned. "I'm not that selfless." 

"You're a good person. Worrying about me failing my semester." Adam shook his head in disbelief. 

"No, I'm not. But I'm aware that it does mean a lot to you." 

"Keep telling yourself that. You have a heart of _gold._ "

"No way," Ronan simply opposed. 

He stole one of Adam's fries in retaliation. Adam didn't mind. 

"What is bi erasure ?" he suddenly asked. 

"It's what the name says." Ronan rolled his eyes. "That thing on your cheek was bi erasure before I fixed it." 

"How do you even know that ?" 

"Blue's activism has good sides, I guess ? It's actually interesting to learn about these things." 

"When you say that you're against that— you mean for all people ?" 

Ronan would say that Adam is not unique but that would be lying, even just to taunt him. 

"Yes, Parrish. For all people, although I'm not as close to giving a fuck than in your case." 

Adam was seeing a new part of Ronan, but he couldn't quite name it yet. 

"Stop looking at me like that," Ronan huffed. 

"Like what ?" Adam snapped back. 

He was getting his defenses high too fast. Ronan was also burying himself in useless protections, mirroring him. 

"Like I did something incredible." 

" _But you did !_ " Adam raised an end of his improvised scarf. "I didn't want to participate because I was falling for that erasure thing. I didn't know what to identify as until you came and threw that over my head." 

He dropped the scarf. Ronan wanted to say something but Adam didn't let him. 

"Not only did you shove it in my face but you also made me feel _good_ about it. Like it's okay and now I know it is, because I'm fucking valid. My experience is valid." Adam paused to give himself the time to cool down. "And you know what the best part is ?" 

Ronan shook his head to answer the theoretical question. 

"You made sense of that for me. I didn't have to figure it out alone. You made me proud in every meaning of the word. I know it hadn't been this easy for you and that's why I'm so damned lucky." 

"Done ?" Ronan asked. 

Adam exhaled sharply before nodding. 

"Alright." He didn't know what to say. "Gansey would have shed a tear." 

They both laughed. Ronan suggested that they eat before the food gets cold. So, they did. There was nothing offensive enough he could do or say to strip Adam's eyes from their pride. Ronan was used to Adam being proud, just not of him. He usually disappoints people. Doing the opposite feels nice. 

The memories they made were different under the light of Adam's blunt confession. Adam had been elated to have Ronan at his arm. As much as Ronan had been to hold onto Adam's. 

The matching graffitis on their cheeks felt like a blessing. 


End file.
